New law gives airline passengers some relief

Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise this year. Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise this year. less

Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise ... more

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

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Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise this year. Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise this year. less

Planes lined up on the tarmac at the San Francisco Airport in South San Francisco, Ca., on Monday, December 21, 2009. Californians expected to travel over the Christmas-New Year holidays are expected to rise ... more

"My flight is in two hours," said Ross, a San Francisco resident who was headed to Houston and could barely see the check-in counter some 60 yards away. "I think I'll be OK. I hope I'll be OK."

Chances are, Ross' plane wasn't leaving on time anyway. At the beginning of a holiday travel week that is expected to be the busiest since 2006, fliers found that their planes were spending a lot of time on the ground, delayed by poor weather at home and worse weather afar.

About 60 percent of the flights at SFO were delayed 90 minutes to two hours, said Dan D'Innocenti, an airport duty manager. Two of the airport's four runways were closed early in the morning because of rain and fog. Inside the airport, travelers waited in security lines that took anywhere from five to 45 minutes, depending on the terminal.

"We were blessed during Thanksgiving because the weather was perfect," D'Innocenti said. "But now it's raining here, and if it goes on like this for the next few days - I don't even want to think that far ahead."

That's because airport holiday traffic will peak Wednesday, when an estimated 127,000 people will move through SFO. The travel organization AAA says 633,000 Californians are expected to fly this holiday season, an increase of 9 percent over last year.

Overall, AAA says, 11.3 million Californians will travel 50 miles or farther this holiday season, the most in three years.

The airport isn't the only place travelers get the hurry-up-and-wait treatment. They can also get it on planes that idle for hours before taking off, particularly when the weather turns bad.

New rules

Reacting to nightmare stories of passengers trapped on planes with no food, no water and overflowing toilets, the U.S. Transportation Department told airlines Monday they will soon have to allow passengers on domestic flights to get off if their planes are stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours.

Violations will bring a fine of $27,500 per passenger, the department said.

The new federal rules, which take effect in 120 days, will also require that airlines provide food and water for passengers within two hours of a plane being delayed on a tarmac and to maintain working restrooms.

The airline industry said, without enthusiasm, that it would comply with the new rules. It said one unintended consequence could be more canceled flights.

"The requirement of having planes return to the gates within a three-hour window or face significant fines is inconsistent with our goal of completing as many flights as possible. Lengthy tarmac delays benefit no one," Air Transport Association chief James May said in a statement.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, however, told reporters at a briefing in Washington, "I don't know what can be more disruptive to people than to be stuck sitting on a plane five, six, seven hours with no explanation."

Thawing in the sun

Although ultra-long tarmac delays are most common in freezing, foul weather east of the Rockies, they have happened in the Bay Area as well.

During the record-setting cold snap in early December, a Seattle-bound plane at Oakland International Airport sat on the tarmac for three hours, according to passengers. The pilot told passengers on the 6:30 a.m. flight that the airport did not have deicing spray, and that he had to park the plane to allow the sun's rays to defrost the wings.

SFO spokesman Mike McCarron said planes that sit on the airport's tarmac for more than an hour can request to return to the gate, provided one is available.

Judith Winthrop, a San Francisco resident headed home to Atlanta on Monday, said she'd heard the horror stories of friends stuck on planes, and was relieved to hear airlines would be forced to let them out.

"I know I wouldn't survive more than three hours," she said. "You'd go insane."

Douglas Ryder was suffering a different kind of airport headache at SFO. Although his wife had a printed itinerary and credit card bill to prove they'd purchased tickets to Atlanta from a third-party Web site, the airline had no record of the purchase.

"If they can make laws about getting off the tarmac after three hours," he said, "they should make laws about this, too."

Getaway weather

Forecasts around the country for Wednesday, the holiday travel season's peak day: